"The Kruger Wild Dog Project is excited to announce that 2013 has been a good denning season for Wild Dog in Kruger National Park. five of the eight packs in Southern Kruger Have had pups. 3 packs in the central region as well as a resident pack in the north. it is hoped these pups will all survive and the population will go from strength to strength. Current population for Greater Kruger with pups is approximately 220 individuals."

Great news indeed. I never saw more dogs than during my last November trip (6 sightings). Would be very interesting if the people from the Wild Dog Project could give some more infos about the different packs (territory, number of dogs in the pack etc.) As I have mentiond in anoter thread I saw a fight between 2 packs North of Matjulu 2 weeks ago and I believe that at least 2 dogs (one adult, one pup) didn't survive the confrontation.I also saw the Pretoriuskop pack 33 days in a row. There were 13 dogs in the pack and 6 or 7 of them were pups

Akukho nyon' endiz' ingahlali phansi. (Zulu)There is not a bird that flies and never sits down.

Wow FC that is quite a run you had there I wish the wild dog project people could give us a map of the territories of the various packs!

Dup wrote:Good news, but I want to put some statement on the table;

Wild Dog, Leopard and to some degree Cheetah, sightings are more during the rainy season(Nov,Dec and Jan) as these animals use the roads. Not only did they use it to "dry out" but also to hunt. The Impala concentrations and new born along all the roads.Would be interesting if there are any statistics.

Interesting Dup We are all hungry to know more of the trends of the sightings!

cheetah2111 wrote:There is a small pack the researchers refer to as the 'Jock pack' named after the Jock Safari Bush lodge which is apparently their locus. This is the pack one would see around Biyamiti as well. Late November their number was 5 adults and 2 pups.

That must be one of the packs that was involved in the fight I saw, probably the pack that started the attack. I met the manager of the Jock Safari Lodge a bit later and told him about the figt and the injured dogs. He told me that they work close together with the people who monitor the wild dog population in Kruger. So I sent him a few pics of the dogs but didn't get any reply so far

Akukho nyon' endiz' ingahlali phansi. (Zulu)There is not a bird that flies and never sits down.

Dup I wish we could have the packs and their territories mapped out! However it seems you are correct in that many packs operate on the Western side of Southern Kruger!

The Jock pack are also seen on the Voortrekker road on both sides of Afsaal. Today they were seen on the H3at the Jock Safari access road

There is a pack of 12 that hangs out closer to Malalane gate. They have been seen there this morning on the S110 and H3 turnoff. Perhaps they are of the lineage of the 'Matjulu pack' that we once referred to them as?

There is another pack of 8 wild dogs that has been seen over the last week. They have operated around the H12, S30 Salitjie and H1-2 roads. We also have photographic evidence that they jogged down the H1-2 all the way down to the Sand River bridge!

Hi Johan, there is definitely a pack on the H7, they are seen regularly, but they have evaded me in the past. There is a big pack seen near Tamboti quite often and they are also seen often between Satara and Nsemani dam

Here is some of the information shared thus far by the Endangered Wildlife Trust

Lower Sabi Pack

Packs of Kruger: The "Lower Sabie Pack" is currently a pack of 21 individuals as a result of a successful denning season in 2013. The packs core home range is in an area east of Lower Sabie rest camp but they have moved into the Skukuza area as well as Tshokwane. They denned along the Sabie River in 2013 and it is hoped the pack will continue to thrive in 2014 seeing all the pups become a year old.

Crocodile Bridge Pack

Packs of Kruger: The Crocodile Bridge Pack has been led by the same alpha pair for the last three years and have had large litters of pups. After having 13 pups during the 2013 denning season the pack has increased to over 20 individuals.

Berg en Dal Pack

Packs of Kruger: The Berg-en-Dal pack is the most severely affected by snaring in Kruger.Snares have been removed from both the alpha male and female in this pack that we were fortunately able to save. As a result of the snaring the packs numbers have remained low even after successful denning seasons in 2012 & 2013 but continue to persist with the challenges they face.

Jock Pack

Packs of Kruger: The Jock Pack was the third pack to be collared in Southern Kruger on Jock safari lodge concession and was featured in the first episode of 50/50 in 2013. The adult female fitted with a GPS collar unfortunately disappeared shortly after she was collared and was never seen again. The packs den was located on the concession and a camera trap was allowing us to capture photos of three Wild Dog puppies shortly after they emerged from the den. They now number 8

Pretoriuskop Pack

Packs of Kruger: The "Pretoriuskop Pack" is one of the greatest success stories for Wild Dogs in Kruger. In early 2012 the pack contained just three adults before denning season where they had six pups. The pack has since increased to 14 individuals after another successful denning season in 2013.An adult female was fitted with a GPS collar in November 2013 which will give accurate info on the packs movements.

Phabeni Pack

Packs of Kruger: The "Phabeni Pack" was the first to be collared in November 2011 near Phabeni gate and contained 9 individuals at the time. One of the collared males earned his name a few months later when he was seen no longer wearing his collar. "On-Off" some how managed to ditch his fancy piece of tracking equipment which was unfortunately never located. The pack now contains 7 individuals after 2013 denning season.

Skukuza pack split - Skukuza pack/Investec Pack

Packs of Kruger National park: The "Skukuza Pack" was the first pack identified at the start of the Kruger Wild Dog Project in 2011. The alpha male "Lightning" is one of the oldest Wild Dogs in Kruger and has led the pack for over four years. The Skukuza packs dynamics have changed over the last year, the pack left the western boundary in March 2013 coming into contact with snares the pack lost two members and then split in two forming a new pack the "Investec Pack"

The investic pack are 10 and have moved Northwards towards Orpen. " The pack is doing well in the central district of Kruger since they dispersed from the South in April 2013. The pack currently comprises of 10 individuals six adults and four pups."

I can give you what information I have gathered, but it will not be from the mouth of @KNP wild dogs

There is a pack of 9 that has been seen in the December period! They were seen just North of Mopani at Bowkerskop, seen West of Mopani on the Shongololo Loop, and East of Mopani on the tropic of capricorn loop. So we can call this the 'Mopani' pack I suppose

The 'Phalaborwa pack' is one of the better known in the Park and it seems to me there are 12

The 'Orpen Pack' seems to be the largest numbering 30

There was a reliable report of 3 dogs at the Shingwedzi T junction this last December Not sure what we name this pack, as there is no certainty yet if they are part of, or separate from the Bataleur or Shangoni pack that used to be were known two or three years back.

There were also reports of skittish wild dogs heading off into the bushes at the Punda Maria T junction. Not certain on numbers.

There is also a pack of four that has been reported around the Phalaborwa 4x4 trails, and up towards Shimuwini. Not sure what we call the pack.

Based on PetraJ's trip report, and reports on Kruger Latest Sightings, we can gather that there is a pack in Central Kruger despite the Orpen, and Investec pack. Though there exact number and name I cannot say.

Perhaps in time all will be stitched together and we will know more for certain. But the Kruger is massive, and some wild dog packs are dwelling mostly away from tourist roads!

I have heard it said that the Phalaborwa pack used to be seen as far South East as Bangu waterhole on the S90! So it may be the answer to your riddle, as they may have numbered as few as six back in the winter of 2010 But again, this is a guess

I have seen photos of dogs in Central Kruger which do not fit the profile of the Investec pack of 10, nor the Orpen pack of 30! Perhaps with more info we can better define who this pack is